And the beat goes on
by its-Rayning-men
Summary: Vala felt her heart pounding in her chest as she stared into the fire, waiting for the drums to begin.


AN: just a wee one shot with DV because I think I've drifted away from it a little.

Let me know what you think.

***

Vala felt her heart pounding in her chest as she stared into the fire, waiting for the drums to begin.

The muscles of her stomach tensed and she inhaled another shaky breath in an attempt to calm her nerves. Unconsciously she moved her hands to her hip and brought her right foot to a point behind her as the fiddler tuned his instrument in preparation. She took another deep breath and time seemed to slow as she caught a glimpse of blue eyes on the other side of the flames. The eyes held hers for along moment and the noise of the festival became muffled until all she could hear was her heart beat. She took another deep breath and thought to herself that she hadn't danced in years.

But then it was too late.

The drums began and she was swept up into a whirl wind of spinning arms and falling steps. Her mind filled with the beat and old memories took over, pulling her back into the dance her mother had taught her so long ago. As the music took over she threw her head back in laughter and her eyes closed, no longer needed to guide her in the weaving pattern the dancers where creating. The heat from the fire mixed with the warmth of her movements and adrenalin to banish the chill of the night air. The tempo of the drums increased, shaping her, driving on her movements, erasing everything else until all she knew was the pounding of her heart and the swinging arms and movement all around her.

And the beat went on.

She spun and caught those blue eyes again watching her, stalking her from the shadows of the crowed, moving with her as she danced around the flames. The predatory look in them sent an added thrill up her spine and she flung herself further into the dance. She turned back from the on lookers and now as well as the heat from the fire on her face she could feel the heat of his gaze on her back.

Then as if by fate he was standing in front of her when the drums suddenly stopped, leaving only the melody of the fiddle. A long note held in the air and time stopped for a moment as their eyes locked something indefinable burning in them as hot as the flames behind them. She reached out her hand to him and as he grasped it the solo note fell away and the drums began again.

Even without knowing the steps he knew instinctively what to do. With the fire heat on his face and her skin beneath his hands the beat took him over and he was lost in the rise and fall of the music and her laughter as they spun together. His hands gripped her waist tightly as he lifted her into another spin, colour and flame spinning around them as she clung to his shoulders.

He placed her back on the ground, ready to surge back into the dance but the pressure of her hands on his shoulders forced him to the ground. He broke her gaze just long enough to see all the other men on their knees before his eyes snapped back to hers and he felt something tighten in his chest at the teasing look on her face.

Once again the drums fell away and the fiddle carried on its notes falling thick and heavy, mixing in the night air with the crackling of the fire. Her eyes held his, taking him hostage and allowing the rest of the world to fall away.

Her hand traced the line from the corner of his eye, down to his jaw and the further on down his neck. It felt like an eternity as she continued on from his neck, dipping into the hollow of his collar bone so as he shuddered under her touch, before moving on to rest her hand on her shoulder. The line she traced seemed to have seared his skin but the point where her hand rested burned like an inferno as she began to walk around him and her hand finally moved again. Back across his shoulder it went before curling behind his neck and finishing its journey under his ear. The seconds stretched as she came to stand in front of him again and her finger burned down his jaw line until it came to his chin, pushing his face up to meet hers again.

The fiddle held another long note before the world fell into silence.

He held his breath, waiting in unbearable anticipation for the tiny spark that would send it all hurtling over the edge.

A single boom of the drums marked the call and she drew him back on to his feet, his hands again falling to her waist and holding her possessively. He tensed for the next step but it didn't come.

The silence carried on.

One beat, then another, just long enough to breath once.

And then the drums where off again, faster than before as they beat out a heart beat into the night. The thundering sound rang out unchallenged as the crowd had fallen silent with the fiddle what seemed like forever ago. The unstoppable storm raged around them and all they could do was go with it as they spun around the fire. She stepped even further into his personal space and as their feet intertwined his hands instinctively pulled her hips against his own.

And, as suddenly as the drums had come, they were gone, falling sharply out of the star-pierced sky.

He was sure there must have been a stillness then, a perfect silence, the sound of uninterrupted peace. But he couldn't hear it over the pounding of his own heart and the charged air between them that seemed to hum. Something within him settled right then, something just beneath and to the left of his rib cage. He wasn't sure just what it was exactly, but it felt right there, felt like it belonged – felt like it had never left all those years ago, never disappeared into the sinking black depths of his sole.

He doubted he would ever know what that moment was called, ever find the words to describe the feeling that spiked through him as her smiling eyes met his own. But there was one thing he was sure of.

There would be no more running from it.

She smiled and now there was something different in her eyes, something darker and purer that looked like a decision. Deep down she understood, he thought. Maybe something in her was settling too.

The moment broke and she began to pull away from him, a gasp escaping her as he forcefully pulled her back against him.

Vala's mind spun at the contact, the feeling of his hot skin burning through the fabric of her dress and warming her more than the fire had. When her eyes locked back on his there was something in them she had never seen before tonight, that predatory, feral, look that burned his name into her bones and marked her as forever his.

his lips were on hers before she even registered the movement, even noticed his right hand sliding up her back while the other tangled in her hair. The last bits of her rational thought vanished into oblivion as his teeth scraped over her bottom lip, his finger grazing the sensitive area below her earlobe, and suddenly everything was spinning and moving and pulsing all around and she couldn't have stopped it even if she wanted to.

Her hand came up to his neck, tentatively at first, then determined as it sought out his pulse point. She smiled into his lips as she felt the artery jump under her fingers and knew its raging tempo matched her own, echoing the now silent drums.


End file.
